The Category 2 storm is moving northwest through the middle of the Gulf of Mexico at 14 miles per hour and has a maximum sustained wind of 105 mph, according to a late Thursday morning bulletin from the National Hurricane Center. Hurricane warnings are in effect from the east coast of Texas to much of the coast of Louisiana, with tropical storm warnings spanning the rest of the Bayou state.

Storm surge warnings are also effective across the area.

"This is a life-threatening state of affairs. Persons located within these areas should take all necessary measures to protect life and property from rising water and the potential for other hazardous conditions. Promptly follow evacuation and other instructions from local officials, "warned the NHC.

Delta, which formed south of Jamaica, has rapidly grown from a tropical depression to a Category 4 hurricane in just 30 hours, a record for this year's season. The cyclone then weakened a bit and landed in Mexico on Wednesday morning at the tip of the Yucatan Peninsula as a strong Category 2 hurricane.

Officials in Mexico said that no one was killed or injured by Delta, although hundreds of tourists ended up hunkering down in storm shelters prior to its arrival, according to the Associated Press. Approximately one-third of the Yucatan Peninsula, or some 266,000 customers, lost power from the tropical system.

The storm is expected to land on the coast of Louisiana sometime on Friday night. Its expected track extends over the same area where Hurricane Laura landed as a major Category 4 hurricane at the end of August. Laura has been the strongest storm of the season so far, killing a few people.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards warned the residents on Thursday that the Delta is fast approaching and that they need to start preparing now before the system's effects begin to blast the coast.

"Today, we have to prepare ourselves and our families for the arrival of Hurricane # Delta. We have until midnight to make sure we take care of what we need to do before we begin to feel the effects of this storm. Let's make that count, "Edwards said in a tweet.

The formation of the Delta Hurricane, which is a Greek letter, comes after the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season had run out of names. The last and only other time was in 2005, which included the Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, and Zeta storms.